Re: I know I'm not, but :)

Ron, I KNOW you will be back with ZA, it's irresistible.
Here's the thing: Acronis TI lets you clone, or image in many fashions. So once you clone your one disc, you can then use TI for reliable backups (inremental, differential) of the whole disc, or partition or individual directories, and unlike Gh o st (I spaced it out, to not cause bleep) you can always access individual files, every single one. I mean access. Open, copy, anything. So it's a tool for many jobs. Is $40-50 high? of course it is. Is it worth it? YOU BET.
Just so you know, Seagate internal drives sales (NOT external) include some version of Acronis TI and it worked great for my son when he replaced his HD on an old, old system, with the Seagate drive.
NO, I'm not in any way associated with Acronis. It's just that I tried several FREE alternatives and all failed by my standards one of which is a simple thing to even be able to install or they claim they can do your documents, big deal. That ain't good enough.
What am I trying to tell ya? Cloning which you need now, once, is a one-time job. The other features are forever (if bugs, they do updates). Enough rambling.

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR>Raideron wrote:
Thank you again George!!Guess I'll go the route....
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
To Follow up with what Zaswing said..<BLOCKQUOTE><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I Use Acronis True Image Ver.11for Image Backups (WinXP &amp; Vista ready) and have successfully Restored Both my WinXPand VistaBoot Drive from a Backedup Image..Here is the instructions for using Acronis True Image to make a Complete Backup Image, including the Boot Sector..1.) Select the First option (BACKUP) click Next2.) You will see a Welcome page, just Click Next3.) Select the Top Option (My Computer) click Next4.) Check Mark Disk 1 (to select everything on the Boot Drive) Click Next5.) on the Folder Box use the down arrow on the right of Input Folder Box to select the Destination HD and inter a file name in the Folder input area (Example g:\MyBackup052507.tib (True Image will give it the extension of (.tib) for True Image Backup) Then click Next (Your entire Backup Image will be Compressed into that file name..6.)Select Create a New Full Backup Archive click Next7.) Select Use Default Options Click Next8.) Optional Comment Notes area you can just click Next9.) Now Click proceed to start the Image Backup10 To Restore from the Image Backup, select Recovery from an Image Backup on the main menu.. and select the Image File on the Backup Drive or CD..Here is How to Restore Just a File or Folder from the Acronis Backup Archive:
Start Acronis Backup program..1.) click Backup / Restore2.) click Restore3.) click Next
4.) Choose Backup Archive Selection5.) Click Next
6.) Choose Restore Specified Files or Folders7.) Click Next
8.) Click Original Location
9.) click Next
10.) Click the Plus Sign (+) in front of C: drive
this will Open up and display all the Folders on C: drive of the Backup
11.) Place a check mark in the box in front of Each Folder you want to Restore,
or you can click on the (+) sign in front of each folder to select individual Files to Restore..
12.) click Next
13.) use Default option14.) click Next
15.) Click Overwrite Exiting File 16.) Click Next
17.) Click Next again to By pass this page
18.) Click PROCEED.. to start the Restore..after Restore is complete exit the Backup Program and Re-boot computerGood Luck..See you around when you come back to your senses and return to ZoneAlarm.. ZoneAlarm Extreme Security version:8.0.298.000
TrueVector version:8.0.298.000
Driver version:8.0.298.000
Anti-virus engine version:6.0.2.678
Anti-virus signature DAT file version:980714681
Anti-spyware engine version:5.0.209.0
Anti-spyware signature DAT file version:01.200903.5565
AntiSpam version:6.0.0.1429
ZoneAlarm ForceField 1.3.130.0
ZoneAlarm ForceField Anti-Phishing Database 1.2.95.0

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

GeorgeV,
When I restored (twice) an important folder, I did use the steps you enumerated.
But, when it's not any of that sacred windows system, firewall, AV stuff, I just use Windows Explorer without running TI. It opens the backup as you described, and I copy and paste files/folders. I think the integration with Windows explorer is why the devices and services other than scheduling run all the time (minimal use of mamory) and that includes shell extensions for the right click context menus.

I know this thread is now going all over the place, and I hope Ron won't mind. It's neat to be able to compare notes sometimes. Thanks GeorgeV

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

I know I'm late to the party but just wanted to relay my own experiences with the acronis 11 program. I routinely clone my internal Western digital Caviar hard drive to an identical internal Western digital Hardrive that is in an external case and connected to the motherboard by an external Sata port. The Acronis program is easy to use, accurate and safe. It sounds like you received a replacement HD so I am guessing that they are identical models . If that is the case an inexpensive way to go would be to have both HDs running off the mortherboard in a RAID Mirror array so that all the data of your old hard drive would be mirrored onto your new one.One other thought I had was that if you have a third hardrive attached as an external USB drive you could try using the XP backup program and backup your old internal harddrive to the external hard drive then restore the backup image to the new internal harddrive.Just some other approaches to consider.

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

This might open a can or worms, but I hope not too much.
1. Mirroring - so bugs or malware get mirrored in split second, right?
2. Clone rather than image. Why may I ask? I've never did the clone thing, would do me no good since most of those expternal drives aren't the size of my laptop drive. Too big diameter. Other than if the drive size matches it's ok to clone, why do you clone? to avoid the linux setup CD step to do total restore from image? I've read few debates over at Wilders and still don't understand. Perhaps ZA Guru can do better.
3. XP backup works. restore from said backup might be a sorry affair (my experience), and the backups are unreadable to me, unlike Acronis images.

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

Hey zasswing,
:-)..
You never know?

Right now all is woking as advertised, fast and
with no problems to date
on both XP/Vista...
On the XP now, with no problems to date using IE8... yes I still use it.... Vista still on IE7....
I was working on spyhammer to ensure all was as clean as possible on my old drive before &quot;Cloning&quot;... Butsomewhere along the process, The &quot;Start Fresh&quot; got involved, And that's the route I went.

WoW lots of hours......
To Dell's dislike I still have the old drive which is still hooked up, I'm still nit picking files/data, I guess by theend of this week I'll wipe it clean and send it back....
Ohh I did end up getting Acronis True Image 2009v12 from Amazon(new)
with
rebate, plus another $5 off frommy first Acronis
deal(auction) that went sour.
I ended up paying $13.95/w/s.... I have it
installed and registered,but not much else yet...
Thanks again
Ron

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

Hello Zaswing,
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you but I am not here as often as i used to be. To address your questions.

1. You are correct. Any malware you accumulate on your boot drive will show up on your mirrored disc as well. Mirroring is a security measure more to protect you from mechanical failure then from malicious software.

2.Cloning is used mainly when upgrading/changing the hardware on your system. If you buy a new hard drive you can turn it into your replaced hard drive through use of a cloning program.No one wants to go through the process of reinstalling all their software to a new hard rive if they can avoid it.(The Acronis program actually allows you to clone to a disk of a different size than the one you are replicating.) Cloning eliminates the need to format and partition your new hard drive before it is able to have a backup image restored to it. Image backup is more for maintenance of an existing hard drive. If you experience a software problem on your hard drive you can restore all your programs or even just one file to the state they were in at the time of the last backup.That being said I have also copied my old disk's information to a new external hard drive, taken the external hard drive out of it's case and then placed it into my computer to replace the old disk.Either way will work just fine but cloning requires 1 less step. Certainly your own personal preferences/situation must dictate what is best for you.
3.As they say..."Your mileage may vary" XP backup may not have worked for you due to circumstances unique to your situation. Perhaps there were corrupted files in the backup or errors on the backup disk. I really can't speak to your personal experience but I am sure that there are many XP users for whom the Backup utility that comes with their operating system is sufficient for their needs.

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

Hi ledoc,
1 - No problem here - totally agree
3 - No problem other than on my sys ntbackup worked, restore failed, twice, hence Acronis to the rescue. Besides, I can't read individual files so me no like it anymore.
2 - I have a small spare external drive. So I thought if I make a clone it could serve as a replacement drive when my main drive, the one and only in a laptop, gives up its ghost. This external is such that it can be removed and placed into a laptop. Well, Acronis said something about they'll delete the orignal when i clicked to clone ... I don't recall exactly what it said, but it scared me enough that I backed out from that whole cloning procedure and images is what I live on now.

Re: I know I'm not, but :)

Acronis gives you the choice to totally wipe clean the old source disk after you have cloned it's data to the new replacement disk. This is a security option in case you want to throw out the old disk or give it away or whatever. If your old disk has sensitive data such as online banking files or company business communications this allows you to get rid of them and not have to worry about the old disk falling into the wrong hands. There is a choice for you to check which I believe is something like "keep data" Just check that and after you clone your data will be both on the old and the new disk.regards,ledoc